Great Ape Juvenile Development and Digestive Physiology

类人猿幼年发育和消化生理学

• 批准号: 1638823
• 负责人: Cheryl Knott
• 金额: $ 43.23万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-15 至 2021-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1638823&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Great; Ape; Juvenile; Development; Digestive

Humans and many non-human primate species have long periods of juvenile development, but the evolutionary underpinnings of these patterns are not fully understood. Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), which have a slow life history and extreme fluctuations in their food supply, are a good species for testing hypotheses about factors that may favor slow juvenile development during evolution. In this project, multiple methodologies will be applied in a long-term study of orangutans in Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia, to determine how food availability affects juvenile growth and development, and the extent to which juvenile and adult orangutans differ in foraging behaviors, diets, and overall ability to extract energy from foods. The project provides research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and increases scientific capacity near the research site. The project runs parallel to the principal investigator's conservation program that helps conserve orangutans through education, alternative livelihoods, adoption of customary forests, and sharing of research with local authorities. Using social media, website, Facebook, twitter, monthly newsletter, and weekly radio programs, the project educates local and world-wide audiences about the importance of orangutan conservation and the application of research to solving conservation problems. The project team members also will develop a special Girl Scout patch program to teach skills related to scientific leadership, field biology and the study of animals to girls in the upper elementary/middle school range, the highest risk group of children for dropping out of STEM subjects. Understanding what constrains juvenile development and the ability of the growing organism to translate energy into growth and maintenance, before the onset of reproduction, is central to our understanding of animal life history, including the study of human evolution. It has been argued that human evolution has been marked by selection for a slower life history. Existing comparative data on great ape development are limited, and based primarily on captive animals living in energy-rich environment, thus likely experiencing accelerated growth. This study sheds light on the concept of ecological risk aversion by looking at both developmental and ecological influences on digestion. The investigators will use behavioral observation, physiological measures, and data on diet and available food resources to determine: 1) if juvenile orangutans are at greater ecological risk than adults, whether juveniles are able to extract less energy from their food, the role of masticatory force in breaking up food into smaller particles, and how body size determines gut passage rates and how much energy is extracted from food; 2) how juveniles and adults differ in their foraging behavior, diet composition and overall energy expenditure; 3) how juvenile development impacts maternal behavior and physiology; 4) at what rate juvenile orangutans grow and whether this differs depending on food availability; and 5) how juvenile orangutan physiology changes with development and depends on food energy intake. If digestion is impeded when consuming high fiber fallback foods during periods of poor food availability, we can better understand the compensatory behaviors that both juveniles and their mothers take to offset caloric and nutrient deficiency. Because of their smaller body size, incomplete gut biome, and masticatory immaturity, juveniles are predicted to be more vulnerable to periods of food shortage. Additionally, if larger-bodied animals of the same species are able to process fiber more efficiently than smaller-bodied animals, this has could have implications for how the evolution of body size impacts the ability to achieve a higher quality diet.

人类和许多非人类灵长类动物都有很长的幼年发育期，但这些模式的进化基础尚未完全了解。红毛猩猩（Pongo pygmaeus），有一个缓慢的生活史和极端波动的食物供应，是一个很好的物种，用于测试假设的因素，可能有利于在进化过程中缓慢的少年发展。在该项目中，将应用多种方法对印度尼西亚Gunung Palung国家公园的猩猩进行长期研究，以确定食物供应如何影响幼年猩猩的生长和发育，以及幼年猩猩和成年猩猩的差异程度。觅食行为、饮食和从食物中提取能量的总体能力。该项目为本科生和研究生提供研究机会，并提高研究地点附近的科学能力。该项目与首席研究员的保护计划并行，该计划通过教育，替代生计，采用传统森林以及与地方当局分享研究来帮助保护猩猩。该项目利用社交媒体、网站、Facebook、Twitter、每月通讯和每周广播节目，教育当地和世界各地的观众了解猩猩保护的重要性以及研究在解决保护问题方面的应用。项目团队成员还将开发一个特殊的女童子军补丁程序，以教授与科学领导，野外生物学和动物研究相关的技能，以小学/中学高年级的女孩，这是儿童辍学STEM科目的最高风险群体。 了解是什么限制了幼年期的发育，以及生长中的有机体在繁殖开始之前将能量转化为生长和维持的能力，对于我们理解动物生活史，包括人类进化的研究至关重要。有人认为，人类进化的标志是选择一个缓慢的生命史。现有关于类人猿发展的比较数据有限，而且主要基于生活在能源丰富环境中的圈养动物，因此可能经历加速增长。这项研究揭示了生态风险规避的概念，通过观察发育和生态对消化的影响。研究人员将通过行为观察、生理测量以及饮食和可用食物资源的数据来确定：1）幼年猩猩是否比成年猩猩面临更大的生态风险，幼年猩猩是否能够从食物中提取更少的能量，咀嚼力在将食物分解成更小颗粒中的作用，以及身体大小如何决定肠道通过率以及从食物中提取多少能量; 2）青少年和成年猩猩在觅食行为、饮食组成和总体能量消耗方面有何不同; 3）青少年发育如何影响母体行为和生理; 4）青少年猩猩的生长速度如何，这是否取决于食物的可获得性; 5）青少年猩猩的生理如何随着发育而变化，并取决于食物能量的摄入。如果在食物供应不足期间食用高纤维后备食物时消化受阻，我们可以更好地理解青少年及其母亲为抵消热量和营养缺乏而采取的补偿行为。由于其较小的体型，不完整的肠道生物群，咀嚼不成熟，青少年预计将更容易受到食物短缺的时期。此外，如果同一物种中体型较大的动物能够比体型较小的动物更有效地加工纤维，这可能会影响体型的进化如何影响获得更高质量饮食的能力。

项目成果

Assessing wid Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) populations with drone imagery

利用无人机图像评估婆罗洲猩猩 (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) 种群

• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: American journal of physical anthropology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Eori, Madeline M.;Barrow, Elizabeth J;Gehrke, Victoria;Breeden, Terri;Kane, E. Erin;Susanto, Tri Wahyu;Knott, Cheryl D
• 通讯作者: Knott, Cheryl D

Fecal isotopes as indicators of weaning and diet in wild Bornean orangutans

粪便同位素作为野生婆罗洲猩猩断奶和饮食的指标

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: American journal of physical anthropology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Knott, Cheryl D;Crowley, Brooke;Kane, Erin;Brown, Michelle;Susanto, Tri Wahyu
• 通讯作者: Susanto, Tri Wahyu

Spatial Parameters Influence the Distribution of Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) Dispersed Seeds

空间参数影响猩猩 (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) 传播种子的分布

• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists
• 作者: Blackburn, Andrea;Ma, Yaxiong;Gopal, Suchi;Riyandi, R.;Knott, Cheryl
• 通讯作者: Knott, Cheryl

The Impact of Changing Religious Practices on Orangutan Fieldwork and Conservation in West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia

宗教习俗的变化对印度尼西亚西加里曼丹（婆罗洲）红毛猩猩实地考察和保护的影响

• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: 87th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists
• 作者: Knott, Cheryl;O’Connell, Caitlin A.;Breeden, Terri;Susanto, Tri Wahyu
• 通讯作者: Susanto, Tri Wahyu

Orangutan Nesting Behavior in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

印度尼西亚西加里曼丹巴隆山国家公园的红毛猩猩筑巢行为

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: American journal of physical anthropology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Brubaker-Wittman, L;Blackburn, A;DiGiorgio, A;Harwell, FS;Kane, EE:;Knott, CD.
• 通讯作者: Knott, CD.